At a Poynter Institute seminar kickoff today, about a dozen faculty members from Statesboro to San Luis Obispo and from Miami Beach to Toronto gathered to discuss “Teaching Diversity Across the Curriculum.” In Poynter’s words, “If tomorrow’s journalists are to report and write about a dynamic, increasingly diverse society, they’ll need guidance in the classroom. Whatever the course, there’s a place for teaching diversity — issues of race, ethnicity and gender — across the journalism curriculum.”

What do journalists stand for? Here are many of the ideas we brainstormed, in no particular order:

Truth, justice & the American way

Accuracy

Ethics

Fairness

Completeness, over the long haul

Honesty

Self-awareness

Integrity

Mensch (a Yiddish term)

Currency (being current)

Relevance

Accountability

Power (as journalists, we have it and must use it wisely)

Power of storytelling

Understanding (by the journalist, of the people and their issues)

Balance

Principles

Love of storytelling

Love of writing

Love of reading

Transparency

Empathy

Do you know an excellent story when you read one? What makes a story excellent? Here are some of our thoughts. Again, these are in no particular order: